Style: December 02, 2019

20 STYLE | special feature
Image: Jana MacPherson, Jana Shoots
Alana Waples is a board member and
volunteer at Baskets of Blessing
Alana Waples understands what a simple
gesture of food or a basket of goods can
mean to a family trying to navigate grief.
She and her husband Andrew had just moved
in 2013 to start as founding pastors of C3 Church
Queenstown when tragedy struck.
Their daughter Violet, nearly three years old,
wandered from the family’s home and tragically
drowned in Lake Wakatipu.
It was a horrific time for the young family.
But Alana remembers an “endless stream”
of people dropping things off, including a
roster of meals cooked three times a week
for three months by parents at Remarkables
Primary School.
“It was quite amazing. I think gifts without
expectations are the ones that mean the most,
especially when you are trying to manage and
process your own grief, let alone walking with
your children through the circumstances.
“So, when people dropped things off, there
was an understanding you were cared for and
you don’t need to say anything,” she says.
Seven years on, Alana (38) is on the board and
one of many volunteers at Queenstown’s Baskets
of Blessing.
“A lot of the people who are part of the
organisation have been through something. There
is a love and graciousness between us,” she says.
The organisation started when founder Tam
Schurmann received a basket from a stranger
when her mother was battling cancer. The
South African later moved to Queenstown and
began the project that sees about 500 baskets
a year gifted to others, including during the
Christmas period.
It starts with a confidential nomination from
someone within the Queenstown community.
“It can be for a family going through a difficult
time, someone who has lost a family member, a
new parent – anything,” she says.
A basket or food box is put together from
the donated items from the community and
delivered to the recipient.
“It is a wonderful experience to gift something
to someone, because they don’t know they are
getting it. Often people are quite emotional and
taken aback. There’s often a hug and a tear,”
says Alana.
It is, says Alana, a gift of love when words
aren’t enough.
About 500
baskets, including
for Christmas,
are made up
over the year
by a large group
of volunteers.
Image: Liz Smith